This question is paramount.
Of
course those who do not think they are seem to have two main
objections, the first being that the Joel prophecy probably describes a
supernatural occurrence, not something as natural and common as a solar
or lunar eclipse.
The second objection is that
the Joel prophecy is talking about an event to transpire at the Second
Coming of Christ and not a pre-tribulation event.
Both
are worthwhile considerations, but after a careful study of Joel and
dissecting subtle differences in the two references given from Joel it
appears to me anyway that Joel's prophecy is describing two separate
unique events at two different times.
Let me show you what I mean and see if you understand what I am seeing in these scriptures.
I
do not want to be dogmatic about my interpretation because to do so
would be to engage in the pride of one who thinks they have it all
figured out and simply can't be wrong- that's not me.
I
like to believe that whatever I am taught is learned of the Holy
Spirit, but also like to keep myself balanced and remember that I still
see through a glass darkly.
And in the end, I could be wrong on my interpretation and if you just don't buy into it, I am ok with that.
So lets first compare the two references in Joel to lay a foundation for this study.
The
sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the
coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to
pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in
Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has
said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
And then later we see in Joel 3:12-16“Let
the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For
there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the
sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is
full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.” Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in
the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars
will diminish their brightness. The LORD also will roar from Zion, And
utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But
the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the
children of Israel.
What
I am about to do is to compare and contrast these two scriptures to
show you that I believe it is possible that they are speaking of two
different unique events; but before I do this I want to present a couple
more scriptures to establish with certainty the "what" Joel is talking
about as well as the "when" on at least one of the Joel references.
First compare the Joel 3 scripture above to Matthew 24:29-31
“Immediately
after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man
will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other.
Now
for the sake of space I am going to give you a couple of scripture
references and let you do your own homework to compare - take a minute
to look at:
Revelation 16:13-16 and Revelation 19:11-19
So now lets compare our Joel 3:12-16 with the Revelation scriptures and Matthew 24:29-31
There
are some differences in all of these scriptures, most notably the
Valley of Jezreel, known commonly as Megiddo or Armegeddon found in
Revelation contrasted with the Valley of Jehoshaphat or Valley of
Decision found in Joel - but what I want to focus on for a moment are to
compare the similarities.
While
these scriptures are describing two different locations on the Lord's
agenda - they are quite obviously speaking of stops He will make on the
SAME DAY.
What are the similarities?
The sun and moon go dark - CHECK.
The stars fall from heaven or are shaken and go dark -CHECK.
The
Lord returns to execute judgement and wrath on all in rebellion against
Him and in opposition to His purpose and plan for Israel - CHECK.
In
this case I would have to say the sun and moon going dark must be a
supernatural, God orchestrated event and here's why I think so.
When
we have a lunar eclipse the moon goes dark because it passes into the
earth's shadow but the sun is still light to create that shadow.
When
we have a solar eclipse, the sun passes behind the moon, but the moon,
while it appears dark, because it is blocking the rays of the sun,
really hasn't gone dark at all, and neither has the sun for that matter,
we are just viewing the "dark side" so to speak since the other side
facing the sun away from us is obviously illuminated.
The
main point I am trying to make is that the sun and moon do NOT
naturally both go dark at any time together - and when the scripture
goes on to describe the stars falling or going dark, my feeling is this
is a supernatural event.
The
other thing I want to establish is the "when" this takes place - I
think it's pretty obvious that this is describing the day of Christ's
second coming.
The
point being, the events of Joel 3, Matthew 24, and Revelation 16&19
cannot be fulfilled by the blood moon tetrad discovered by Pastor Mark
Biltz.
But
what I want you to consider is that as Joel 3 is a "bookend" to one end
of the tribulation - namely the END of the tribulation.
Joel
2 might be an entirely DIFFERENT event as a bookend to the other side
of the tribulation, namely BEFORE the tribulation.
Lets look at the differences.
While
Joel 3 talks about the sun AND moon being darkened, Joel 2 only speaks
of the sun being turned into darkness and it speaks rather of the moon
being turned into BLOOD.
What color does the word dark make you think of? What color does the word blood make you think of?
We
can either try to do injustice to these scriptures by forcing them
together into some preconceived notion that when Joel 3 speaks of the
moon going dark, it must mean the same thing as Joel 2's moon colored
like blood - or we can just let the scripture say what it says and
realize they could be two separate things.
Are
there other differences? Does Joel 2 mention any action of the stars
falling or being shaken or growing dark? No, any such reference is
conspicuously absent.
This
leads me to think Joel 2 speaks of natural eclipses, where the stars
maintain their normal courses; opposed to Joel 3 which seems to indicate
a supernatural occurrence that affects both sun, moon, as well as
stars.
Finally consider that these similar scriptures seem to indicate two entirely different time stamps.
Joel
2 seems to indicate the solar and lunar sign comes BEFORE the Day of
The Lord, while Joel 3 seems to indicate the solar and lunar event AFTER
the Day of The Lord or perhaps ON the Day of The Lord when compared to
Matthew 24 depending on your perspective.
I
hate to go down a rabbit trail, but the Day of The Lord could be a
source of confusion at times - that phrase The Day of The Lord has been
identified with:
A.) The tribulation period
B.) The second coming
C.) The millennial reign
And
in truth, it does sort of encompass the entire time period beginning
with the tribulation when Jesus looses the seals on the scroll taking
back the "title deed" of the earth and concluding 1000 years later after
the millennial kingdom ends.
So
in this case If we were to combine Joel 2 and 3 as the same prophecy
concerning the sun and moon (whereas Joel 2 clearly defines the sign as
coming BEFORE The Day of The Lord) - then A.) and B.) are ruled out as
we have seen that Joel 3 clearly refers to the the time defined by the
second coming the same as Matthew 24 does.
In
this case the only option left open if one does combine the two
scriptures is to say it takes place before the Day of The Lord referring
to the Millennial Kingdom. It does not seem to be a good option to me,
as I will now explain.
In
Joel 2 according to the timeframe given after the sun is turned dark
and the moon to blood it says -"And it shall come to pass That whoever
calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved."
So lets ask the question - does this statement refer to the millennial kingdom/Day of The Lord?
My
answer would be that the curse of sin has been lifted during this time,
the lion lays down with the lamb and it is unusual for someone to die
at a young age. It seems as though this statement probably does not fit
this period best.
So
does this statement -And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on
the name of the LORD Shall be saved - apply to the actual second
coming/Day of The Lord?
Again,
I don't think it fits this timeframe very well either. By the end of
the tribulation, in that final day when The Lord returns, men will not
be calling on Him for salvation. Rather men will be blaspheming Him
because of the plagues on the earth and gathering to battle Him at
Armageddon.
I
would even contend that in the "Valley of Decision" no "decisions" will
be made for Christ - those that gather there will already have made
their decision and their minds made up and will gather there to be
judged. (Jehoshaphat means Yah will judge)
I
could be wrong on this, but logically the statement - And it shall come
to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved -
does not seem to fit the actual day of the second coming when the focus
seems to be primarily on vengeance and judgement.
What
that statement - And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the
name of the LORD Shall be saved - does seem to fit best is the
tribulation period known also as "The Day of The Lord" when despite the
trials, we know from scripture many will still come to the faith and
even Israel will find its Messiah.
If
this is the case, you can now see why it is completely logical to
disconnect Joel 2's solar/lunar sign from Joel 3's solar/lunar sign and
understand that they could be two unique events at two different times.
I
prefer to think of them as parenthesis or bookends with the former
sign, the natural solar and lunar eclipses pointing forward and warning
of the latter sign some 7 years later of the supernatural heavenly
disruptions accompanying the return of Messiah Yeshua.
Of
course the hard part about this is I can't prove it and we will never
know if the tetrads really ARE that first Joel 2 sign, because we will
be gone before the tribulation starts - praise God!
I
don't expect this study to have changed anyone's mind, but I do hope
it's given everyone something to think about, and perhaps even
encouraged some watcher to keep the eyelids open a bit longer, it's
amazing times we are living in.